1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cassette tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus, such as an audio tape recorder, a video tape recorder, and so forth. More specifically, the invention relates to a loading system for handling a tape cassette between a loading position, at which a tape as recording medium and stored in a cassette or cartrige housing, is accessible for recording and reproducing information thereon, and an unloading or eject position, at which the tape cassette is accessible for setting in or removing from the recording and/or reproducing apparatus. Further particularly, the invention relates to a tape cassette loading system for a recording and/or producing apparatus having a so-called pop-up architecture in loading and unloading or ejecting the tape cassette.
2. Description of the Background Art
In certain types of cassette tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus, a recording medium tape, such as a magnetic tape, is pulled out from a cassette housing and disposed in a tape path defined outside of the cassette casing. For example, this is required in a recording and/reproducing apparatus employing a rotary head. In such case, the tape pulled from the cassette housing is wrapped around a rotary head drum by means of tape guides. When the tape cassette in such recording and/or reproducing apparatus is to be unloaded and to be removed from the apparatus, the tape in the tape path has to be retracted within the cassette housing before the tape cassette is removed from the apparatus.
On the other hand, for convenience of setting and removing the tape cassette in and from the recording and/reproducing apparatus, some apparatus have a so-called pop-up architecture for automatically moving a cassette holder between the loading position and an unloading or eject position, at which the cassette holder is fully projected from the housing of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus so that the tape cassette may be easily removed or set. Such recording and/or reproducing apparatus with the pop-up type tape loading system is convenient for setting and removing the tape cassette. On the other hand, such pop-up architecture requires a spring means for biasing the cassette holder to the eject position and a damper means for restricting motion speed of the cassette holder. This damper means is generally too bulky to allow the recording and/reproducing apparatus to be compact enough, which compactness of the overall structure of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus is an important factor in certain types of apparatus, such as hand-carried VTR cameras, portable audio tape replayers and so forth.
Therefore, for achieving satisfactory compactness, there is a manually operable cassette loading system, in which the cassette holder is manually operated between the loading position and an unloading or eject position, which has been proposed. Though the manually operable cassette loading system is advantageous in view of simplification of construction of the tape loading mechanism and thus achieves satisfactory compactness and light-weight, a drawback is encountered in difficulty in telling the operator the timing at which the unloading of tape to retract the tape within the tape cassette is completed. This causes a tendency that the operator manually operates the cassette holder before completing the tape unloading operation. Since some portion of the tape is maintained within the tape path before the tape unloading is completed, such manual operation of the cassette holder causes damage to the components of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus, or to unintentionally pull out a substantial length of the tape from the tape cassette.